GEORGE NEWS - Three spaza shops and a restaurant were closed in George during a blitz held by environmental health practitioners (EHPs) of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM).
These closures were enforced due to poor hygiene standards and the absence of valid certificates of acceptability.
The blitz came after 23 children died in Gauteng after they consumed snacks bought from a spaza shop. In Great Brak River, incidents were also reported to the authorities after pills were allegedly found in packets of chips bought at local spaza shops.
It is suspected that the snacks in Gauteng were contaminated by pesticides sold in the same shop.
The crisis started in January this year, with a reported 441 cases of food contamination in the country. A large number of the incidents occurred in schools, primarily affecting children aged 6 to 10, with the other cases occurring among community members.
The most severe cases were concentrated in Johannesburg, followed by Ekurhuleni and the West Rand.
This has placed spaza shops, especially those owned by foreigners, in the spotlight, and many are calling for stricter law enforcement or even a complete ban on foreign-owned spaza shops.
Foreign businessowners respond to blitz
Liban Ali, foreign businessowner and chairperson of the Southern Cape Foreign Business Association (SCFBA) in George, says although they welcome the steps taken by health inspectors, they feel victimised and reject the claims suggesting they sell expired food or intentionally harm their customers, especially children.
"We fully support these efforts to protect public health. However, no one in their right mind would harm their customers on purpose.
"We believe these accusations are baseless and part of an effort to damage the reputation of foreign-owned businesses, which have built strong community ties over the last two decades," he says.
Ali also urges all spaza shop owners to follow health protocols carefully.
He further calls on the South African government to exercise caution regarding statements about African immigrants. "We ask for thorough investigations to get to the bottom of these issues, rather than allowing the livelihoods of honest businessowners to be politicised or tarnished by false narratives about foreign-owned businesses selling expired food."
Fadiel Luiters (Law Enforcement), David Maloka (environmental health practitioner) and Nathan Jonas (Law Enforcement) at one of the shops during the blitz. Photo: GRDM
Festive food safety
Head of communications at GRDM Herman Pieters said as the festive season approaches, the municipal health section is set to implement a food safety plan to ensure safe food-handling across all food premises, including institutions such as educational facilities, stalls, retail shops, spaza shops, taxi ranks and mobile vendors in the district.
"The plan is aimed at protecting public health by reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses, also considering the recent food-poisoning-related cases reported across the country.
"EHPs are responsible for ensuring that all food establishments meet hygiene standards to provide safe products to the public," said Pieters.
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